STRAWBERRY HILL, _May_ 31, 1778.
I am forced to look at the dates I keep of my letters, to see what
events I have or have not told you; for at this crisis something happens
every day; though nothing very striking since the death of Lord Chatham,
with which I closed my last. No?--yes, but there has. All England, which
had abandoned him, found out, the moment his eyes were closed, that
nothing but Lord Chatham could have preserved them. How lucky for him
that the experiment cannot be made! Grief is fond, and grief is
generous. The Parliament will bury him; the City begs the honour of
being his grave; and the important question is not yet decided, whether
he is to lie at Westminster or in St. Paul's; on which it was well said,
that it would be "robbing Peter to pay Paul." An annuity of four
thousand pounds is settled on the title of Chatham, and twenty thousand
pounds allotted to pay his debts. The Opposition and the Administration
disputed zeal; and neither care a straw about him. He is already as much
forgotten as John of Gaunt.
General Burgoyne has succeeded and been the topic, and for two days
engrossed the attention of the House of Commons; and probably will be
heard of no more. He was even forgotten for three hours while he was on
the tapis, by a violent quarrel between Temple Luttrell (a brother of
the Duchess of Cumberland) and Lord George Germaine; but the public has
taken affection for neither them nor the General: being much more
disposed at present to hate than to love--except the dead. It will be
well if the ill-humour, which increases, does not break out into overt
acts.
I know not what to say of war. The Toulon squadron was certainly blown
back. That of Brest is supposed to be destined to invade some part of
this country or Ireland; or rather, it is probable, will attempt our
fleet. In my own opinion, there is no great alacrity in France--I mean,
in the Court of France--for war; and, as we have had time for great
preparations, their eagerness will not increase. We shall suffer as much
as they can desire by the loss of America, without their risk, and in a
few years shall be able to give them no umbrage; especially as our
frenzy is still so strong, that, if France left us at quiet, I am
persuaded we should totally exhaust ourselves in pursuing the vision of
reconquest. Spain continues to disclaim hostility as you told me. If the
report is true of revolts in Mexico, they would be as good as a bond
under his Catholic Majesty's hand.
We shall at least not doze, as we are used to do, in summer. The
Parliament is to have only short adjournments; and our senators, instead
of retiring to horse-races (_their_ plough), are all turned soldiers,
and disciplining militia. Camps everywhere, and the ladies in the
uniform of their husbands! In short, if the dose is not too strong, a
little adversity would not be quite unseasonable.--A little! you will
cry; why what do you call the loss of America? Oh! my dear sir, do you
think a capital as enormous as London has its nerves affected by what
happens beyond the Atlantic? What has become of all your reading? There
is nothing so unnatural as the feelings of a million of persons who live
together in one city. They have not one conception like those in
villages and in the country. They presume or despond from quite
different motives. They have both more sense and less, than those who
are not in contact with a multitude. Wisdom forms empires, but folly
dissolves them; and a great capital, which dictates to the rest of the
community, is always the last to perceive the decays of the whole,
because it takes its own greatness for health.
Lord Holdernesse is dead; not quite so considerable a personage as he
once expected to be, though Nature never intended him for anything that
he was. The Chancellor, another child of Fortune, quits the Seals; and
they are, or are to be, given to the Attorney-General, Thurlow, whom
nobody will reproach with want of abilities.
As the Parliament will rise on Tuesday, you will not expect my letters
so frequently as of late, especially if hostilities do not commence. In
fact, our newspapers tell you everything faster than I can: still I
write, because you have more faith in my intelligence; yet all its merit
consists in my not telling you fables. I hear no more than everybody
does, but I send you only what is sterling; or, at least, give you
reports for no more than they are worth. I believe Sir John Dick is much
more punctual, and hears more; but, till you displace me, I shall
execute my office of being your gazetteer.
_EXULTATION OF FRANCE AT OUR DISASTERS IN
AMERICA--FRANKLIN--NECKER--CHATTERTON._